5.24.2010

Hello Everybody Make sure you Flag this messageALERT: DIGITAL PHOTOCOPIERS KEEP A COPY OF YOUR PRIVATE DOCUMENTS ON THEIR HARD DRIVE - GASP!!!!!!!!!!

I am printing this title twice because it think it bears repeating. And it points to the seriousness of the situation.

I got this message, which I'm am sharing below, from my "Beautiful#1 Daughter, who is a computer graphics design specialist. I'm sharing it with you, because we are generally the last in line to know (although we are generally the first in line to be suspicious. Now we know that our suspicions are real. Congratulations!

Now, for the rest of us, who tried to deny it, let's do a reality check here. In your heart of hearts haven't you ever wondered whether or not any of the stuff you were copying on those trusty xerox machines (and their spin-offs) was also being recorded or copied on some sort of drive, and retained for some future purpose? You know you did. Well as I stated above, you were right. You can trust your intuition.

Per my Beautiful #1 Daughter: "First off, this is very scary. I'd hate to even imagine what would be stored on the drives. I was able to delete files from the log (I've worked w/similarly advanced printers of all sizes); but they probably didn't completely delete the document from the stored drive -- just a reference file link."

My Beautiful #1 Daughter continues: "Now, most printers go unchecked. There is no tech person going around reprinting all the documents stored. But with that said, there ARE managers who check the log for the amount of pages printed monthly (for example). I know, I used to work with them... which is why I know how to delete any personal links to stuff I printed "away from home."

My Beautiful #1 Daughter continues: "This is insanely irresponsible. If you have a business - this is IMPORTANT. Any homeowner who uses a copier should be aware."

That's so, in case you either bought or sold a copier, and have a home office of business and think you're exempt -- you're not. So you need to find out how to make sure your info is secured before you recycle it.

Like most of us, you probably thought, well, "Big Brother is always watching, especially us Black folks. So what?"

Well, now that it's no longer just "Big Brother," American style, what then do we do about the countless millions of documents that are now being shipped inadvertently overseas to those who really do have the computer literacy (that we don't have, and that includes yours truly) to be able to use the information against us, or in a way that can really compromise you economically (i.e. yo' money); your I.D., or otherwise.

Time to clean house (theirs and ours. Time to make sure that the stuff really is scrubbed.

Nuff said (I hope)

Stay Blessed &ECLECTICALLY BLACKGloria Dulan-Wilson

PS: since I'm not great about transporting info from other sources (I'm working on becoming better); if you can't click on the youtube reference, just paste into your browser and take it from there.GDW